Resume Writing

Creating a plain-text resume

As most job hunting is now conducted online, you will need to create a plain-text resume for emailing and/or online posting. A plain-text resume contains no formatting other than line breaks and is ready to copy and paste into email message body windows, online forms, or text fields.

To copy your resume text into a simple text editor:

1. Spell check and Save your resume in Microsoft Word (or your word processing program).
2. Open a simple text editor like Notepad on the PC or TextEdit on the Mac.
3. Return to your Microsoft Word resume. Press Ctrl+A to highlight your resume text. (If you're not used to using keyboard shortcuts, you can take a look at our Keyboard Shortcuts lesson.)
4. Press Ctrl+C to copy the text. Move to the simple text editor and press Ctrl+V to copy your resume into the text editor.
5. Click FileSave As and name and save your plain-text document (yournameresume.txt).

Please note that a plain-text resume should not replace a nicely formatted resume created with a word processing program. Once you have made direct contact with a potential employer, a hiring manager will likely want a copy of your formatted version.

Additional resume formatting tips

• You also have the option of converting your file directly from Microsoft Word into a plain-text file or HTML (web) file. Go to Save As and use the drop-down menu under Save As Type, then select Plain Text, HTML, or Web.
• You can create an HTML (web) version of your resume from Microsoft Word. HTML formats are viewable in a web browser and allow you to add more elaborate formatting like bold and color. You can also copy and paste HTML resumes onto employer websites that allow the use of HTML.
• You can conveniently copy and paste text from your plain-text resume into the profile forms that are required by some employer and job board sites on the Web.